Syncing action lists in Project view to PALM

02-20-2007, 03:23 AM

I am very happy working with Outlook 2003 and syncing to my Palm Tungsten3 (have had it for years and it still works a dream), but the one thing that doesn't work is getting a list of all actions under the Projects category view in the Palm. Also my Palm is limited to 15 categories.

Does anyone know if it is possble to do something with this problem? I find that I often review my projects when out and about, and would really like to address actions in a Project View.

Perhaps I'm running programs that are too old? Will updating to Windows 2007help? Will the GDT Add In continue to work if I update?

I am very pleased how things are working out now and am scared stiff of losing information and the system I have established. I have also put a number of hours into this and am trying to avoid putting more. Any input?

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Thanks for your reply - I find I manage quite well with the 15 category limit - but the main problem is the view under the projects list. In outlook the the Projects View lists all the different types of actions which are applicable to that particular project, as an example:

However in my Palm this list will not appear under the Project kategori. The project list will only show all my different projects - but no actions!

Has anyone found a work-around for this?

The short answer is no, there is no robust solution that everyone would say works "good enough." There are sort-of and almost solutions. The simplest is to put a project name or code in every NA and use search. This requires extra discipline on your part. There are other methods using additional software (Keysuite, Agendus,...) but they all require changes to your workflow, additional cost, and are not foolproof. There is really no particular technical challenge to adding a ubiquitous project field, but that hasn't happened.

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Hmm - suspected as much. In that case - what would be the next choice (handheld or mobile og maybe Palm's life drive?) as a handheld which would cope with this aspect? How do others handle projects when out and about? It is often in flight or on the tram that I have time to work through projects and do reviews.

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The newest version of PlanPlus for Outlook puts views on your Palm (or mobile PC device) that allow you to access tasks by Project. My Palm is a pretty old one and it can take a while to sort the database but it gives the same hierarchical listing of actions and sub-actions and sub- sub-actions that appear in my desktop Outlook.

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Hmm - suspected as much. In that case - what would be the next choice (handheld or mobile og maybe Palm's life drive?) as a handheld which would cope with this aspect?

You can by additional software. There exist some packages that work on the Palm as well as on the Desktop. What about the Nokia 800 device? It works well for some relatives. Or what about a full flesged laptop?

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Thank you all for your constructive responses - I will check some of them out and see which works best - if any. I will report back in time!

After thought - all the suggestions above - do they combine with the GDT add-in I use with Outlook?

I know that Life Balance on the Palm does sync with Outlook on the desktop but I'm not sure how well it works and if the Projects in the Add-in pass over. In Life Balance there are no notes or email so no syncing for those of course.

Life Balance is quite a simple elegant tool and does have a desktop version but it sound like you are very wedded to Outlook (like me!)

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Thanks Smithdoug! I have just checked out the PlanPlus site and am considering this solution. Could you conirm that the tasks connected with each project are viewable on your handheld? Do you think it would matter if the PlanPlus program is installed after the GDTaddin? Ihave used quite a few hours getting things organizedso far and would hate to have to redo everything. I appreciate that you cannot guarantee anything - but certainly would like to get your advice. I us the Chapura Pocket Mirror programto syncwith the Palm.

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Sorry for not responding earlier, Kari Anne. Yes, I can open a Projects window on my Palm that fairly accurately mirrors the tree-like listing of tasks and sub-tasks in the Project screen of my desktop. But I doubt if this can be done with Chapura. I presume that both PlanPlus and the GTD Add-in must place a meta-tag in a task to indicate that it belongs to a particular project. A third-party synching application would be unlikely to recognize those tags. I've always used the synching tool that comes bundled with PlanPlus (they have tools for both Palm and Windows Mobile). It adds a few screens to the Palm and I generally like those better than the native Palm ones. One caveat: After you've done a synchronization, it will take a little while for the Palm to sort the PlanPlus database the first time you try to access one of those screens, but this is a one-time sort and only after you've done a synchronization. Once it's done, all of the screens seem to appear without delay. As long as you're aware of this and plan for it--and perhaps let the Palm do the sorting before you really need to use it--you should be fine. And this applies only to the special PlanPlus screens.

Furthermore, PlanPlus and the GTD Add-in will not recognize each other's project tags. There are ways to work around this, and I haven't found it to be a big issue for me. Finally, I doubt if it makes any difference which add-in you install first. They seem to coexist without interference.